Inland Rail on track with contract awarded in NSW - 20 April 2018

Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail continues to progress with the Australian Rail Track Corporation

(ARTC) awarding a $6 million contract for feasibility and design.

WSP Australia Pty Ltd and Mott MacDonald Pty Ltd, trading as IRDJV, has been awarded the contract for the Illabo to Stockinbingal section of Inland Rail.

Inland Rail Program Delivery Director Simon Thomas said the feasibility design would build on preliminary investigations and extensive community engagement already conducted by ARTC.

“ARTC are working to provide more information as local residents, landowners and surrounding communities are keen to know more about Inland Rail from an engineering and design perspective and the feasibility design is the next step in that process,” Mr Thomas said.

“This feasibility design work will give us information in terms of engineering, environmental, traffic and other impacts, which we can use to design and build the best possible rail line.

“It will lay the groundwork for the detailed design for these sections, and there will be more contracts awarded by ARTC over the coming months in regional NSW.”

Mr Thomas said this was another example of the flow-on benefits to Australian businesses from the nation-transforming Inland Rail project.

“As Inland Rail moves towards construction phase, residents and local businesses will increasingly see the benefits of Inland Rail, including the jobs and new investment opportunities it will create,” he said.

“Farmers and regional communities, big and small, will benefit by better connecting produce to domestic and international markets.”

The Illabo to Stockinbingal project is a new 37km long rail corridor. This new section of rail corridor will bypass a winding and steep section of track known as the Bethungra Spiral, providing a new direct route from the east of Illabo up to Stockinbingal and into the existing Forbes rail line.

Once Inland Rail is operational, the Bethungra Spiral will continue to be used for freight and passenger services to Sydney.